In terms of physical appearance, “Toward Evening” by Junius Allen reminds me of The Bluest Eye. The painting is almost exactly how I imagined the setting of the story, particularly the house of Pecola and her family. Morrison vividly describes the poverty of the neighborhood, and I feel that same sense of hopelessness when I look at this painting. When I looked closer at the painting, I noticed a church steeple or some other type of important building in the background -- with a road leading toward it! -- that made me start to think about what the building in the background (and the road) could mean. "Maybe," I thought, "the foreground represents the present, while the background represents the future." In this sense, "Toward Evening" reminds me of The Grapes of Wrath: the foreground (in other words, the present) is very desolate and sad; the yard is barren (much like the Joads’ farm) and the tree is broken. However, there is a road leading to the background, which shows that there is a path to the future, where a church (or salvation) awaits. In a more literal sense, this road can represent the journey the Joads traveled on to California. The road presents a path (and consequently, a hope) to a better future. Despite this, the future is quite a distance away, much like the description of the Joads' reaction when seeing all the riches of California. They saw the possibility of having all their dreams come true, but in actuality, those dreams were never attained.
"Toward Evening" by Junius Allen (1951).
The Bluest Eye. The Grapes of Wrath.
In terms of physical appearance, “Toward Evening” by Junius Allen reminds me of The Bluest Eye. The painting is almost exactly how I imagined the setting of the story, particularly the house of Pecola and her family. Morrison vividly describes the poverty of the neighborhood, and I feel that same sense of hopelessness when I look at this painting. When I looked closer at the painting, I noticed a church steeple or some other type of important building in the background -- with a road leading toward it! -- that made me start to think about what the building in the background (and the road) could mean. "Maybe," I thought, "the foreground represents the present, while the background represents the future." In this sense, "Toward Evening" reminds me of The Grapes of Wrath: the foreground (in other words, the present) is very desolate and sad; the yard is barren (much like the Joads’ farm) and the tree is broken. However, there is a road leading to the background, which shows that there is a path to the future, where a church (or salvation) awaits. In a more literal sense, this road can represent the journey the Joads traveled on to California. The road presents a path (and consequently, a hope) to a better future. Despite this, the future is quite a distance away, much like the description of the Joads' reaction when seeing all the riches of California. They saw the possibility of having all their dreams come true, but in actuality, those dreams were never attained.
Back to "Toward Evening"